Arts & Events

Woman's Will, the East Bay all-female troupe which was founded by Erin Merritt for women to play all the roles in Shakespeare and other great theater, has for years put on an annual playfest. This year, with Victoria Evans Erville's artistic direction--and dedication to the principal not just of roles for women, but plays written and directed by them--the short plays presented were written by female playwrights from around the country over a two month period, including;

It's Good to Know, by Megan Cohen; 740 is a Blue Ribbon, by Nancy Gall-Clayton; Counting the Minutes, by Evelyn Jean Pine (all directed by Erville); 1960, by Marilyn Hughes; After the Prologue, by Carol Lashoff (directed by Jodi Schiller); Blood Sisters, by Robin Rice Lichtig (directed by Kate Jopson) ...

And a special preview of Woman's Will's first original play, Starving Hearts: The Women Behind Suffrage, by Kate Jopson, Sharon Huff and Anne Hallinan, directed by Huff--which will premiere next Fall.

The company notes that only 20% of all professionally produced plays are by women playwrights or directed by woman directors.

Playfest 2011 is a celebration of what's become a Bay Area theatrical institution.